Kendall Bookworms

Welcome to our latest episode. For this month, Alex and Joe read a strange novel by one of Joe's favorite people of all time. We read The Liar by Stephen Fry. This is kind of a spy novel but not. It is also a coming of age novel, but again not. One thing that it is, is funny. Or at least Joe thinks that. Give us a listen to find out why Alex thinks otherwise. And see who you agree with by reading...

Hello all!   Today's bonus episode was a fan suggestion. This super fan had the request that we read a lost classic called The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread by Don Robertson. This story is one of the novels that got the great Stephen King interested in writing. Give it a listen to see what two lesser known brothers think of it.   Our next regularly scheduled book is going to be The Liar by ano...

This month Alex and Joe discuss another controversial book. Today we are talking about The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. We don't delve too deeply into the controversy about the author, as neither of us looked too hard into it. It didn't really have much to do with the assigned reading. What we do discuss though, is how much we both enjoyed rereading this fun littl...

For National Women's Month, we have a special book for everyone. Becky joins Joe to discuss the book Valliant Women by Lena Andrews. It is about the women that helped win World War Two; the brave women that broke tradition to assist our Soldiers and Marines and Navy in whatever capacity that they could. Becky gets her heckles up and Joe makes sure to needle her when appropriate. This one will teac...

This month Joe and Alex discuss the book, Lamb, the Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore. This was Joe's pick. As he says, one of his top 5 books of all time. This is a controversial book about the "lost years" of Jesus and how he developed his teachings. A perfect book to read leading up to Easter this year, so you can really piss off your overly religious relativ...

In this bonus episode, Becky was kind enough to join Joe again and discuss some fairytale retellings. Becky picked out two of her favorite childhood retellings, The Talking Eggs by Robert D. San Souci and Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe. Becky has lots of questions about why we retell so many fairytales, and why so many are based on women. We would love to hear back from all of our li...

This month Alex and Joe discuss the book, Gone Baby Gone by Denis Lehane. This is a crime thriller that takes place in '90s Boston. Both of us reflect on those simpler times and the tropes that these kinds of books loved to throw around back then. One thing that we had to keep reminding ourselves of, no cell phones. Oh how times have changed.   Our next book we will be discussing will be Lamb by C...

In this episode we have two very special guests today. Both our wives, Becky and Megan are here to discuss a book that Alex is calling the greatest classic since Gilgamesh and Joe thinks it as the dumbest thing ever written...   We are talking about the book, Stuffed by Sylvia Morrow. 87 pages of pure hell. About a sentient pillow. And the love making that ensued. This is a smut book of the most e...

This month Joe and Alex discuss the book Stiff by Mary Roach. They are joined by their favorite returning guest host, Becky. This was one of Becky's favorite teenage books. Yes, she is a little strange. But we all still love her. We talk about everyone's favorite subject, death. And more importantly, what to do with your body after you are no longer residing in it. Joe was shocked that he was the...

In this bonus episode, Becky has returned once again to discuss the book Peak by Roland Smith. She gives an in-depth overview of the book and gives us some of the prompts that she would give her middle school students. Joe and Becky discuss some of the ins and outs of climbing Everest. Neither of us are experts on the matter, so we apologize for all the details we got wrong.    Our next episode wi...

This month Alex and Joe discuss the Greek myth retelling, Bull, by David Elliot. It is a different kind of book. Completely told in poetic prose. The author is a local (to us) author that Alex was lucky enough to meet once. Listen to him geek out about this epic tale that looks at an old favorite from the point of views of some of the more minor characters and antagonists.    Our next book is goin...

Alex and Joe interview their first author! Local author Troy Farkas who recently published his debut self-help novel Surrender, A Guide to Living Your Best Life in Your Twenties was kind enough to sit down with us and discuss his book and his philosophy on life.   If you are interested in buying this local (to us) author's book, you can find it at any bookstore or online. Amazon link below.   http...

This month Alex and Joe discuss the absolutely hilarious book, Night Watch, by Sir Terry Pratchett. In this episode, Joe reads far too many quotes and gushes about how much he loves this book. Alex makes fun of his older brother for this shameful display of feelings while continuously repeating how this book is well done.    Our next book is going to be a personal favorite for Alex. Bull by David...

In this bonus episode, Adam joins us against his will. He suggested this book, Hopscotch by Julio Cortazar. Alex and Joe do their best to describe this book to Adam, since Adam did not do his reading assignment. This book is interesting because there are multiple ways to read it, and Alex and Joe compare notes on the ways that they read the book. At times Adam even gets excited and joins in on the...

This month Alex and Joe talk about the hilarious horror novel, John Dies at the End, by Jason Pargin aka David Wong. In this book Alex and I try to tackle the craziness of the storyline. Honest. It's all over the place. We share our different theories on the many plot holes and strangeties (yes I know that is not a real word). Joe even gets Alex to pause and think deeply on the title.   Our book f...

This is our first bonus episode. I am proud to have Becky come back on and give us a rundown on the different genres in books and talking about some of her favorite books in these different genres. No Alex this episode, hope people aren't too disappointed.    I apologize about the audio in some areas. Alex is the sound tech guy, and this being Joe's first solo gig, there were some technical diffic...

This month Alex and Joe talk about one of Joe's picks. We talk about The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon. In this discussion we talk about zombie children and their peculiar tastes in human brains, McMahon's deft ability to create solid, complete characters that are interesting and complex, and how the author keeps the common genre of thriller/horror fresh and fun. A big difference from Joe's la...

This month Alex and Joe talk about the classic, A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess. In Alex's pick, we discuss many deep and scary topics, such as ultra-violence, free will, and child rape. So pull up your socks and be prepared to be horrified. In all seriousness, this conversation may trigger some people and is not appropriate for children. So be careful where you listen.    Our book for next...

Woof. This month Alex and Joe are talking about the book, The Butcher and the Wren by Alaina Urquhart, with guest visitor Rebecca. In Joe's pick, we discuss what makes this book such a disaster. Alex also dreams up a little competition that the three of us partake in. Come join us tear this book apart and try to figure out how Alaina could have made this a compelling book if she had only talked to...

This month Alex and Joe discuss the book, And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. In Alex's book pick we go in depth on the characters and Agatha's ability to write something that few authors could ever manage to make almost believable. The questions the attempt to answer range from "What makes Christie the Queen of Mystery?" to "Were the plot twists and red herrings believable?" After the co...

This month Alex and Joe discuss Joe's first book pick, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black. Alex lays into his hatred of the first sentence of the book, then we gush all over the rest of it. We attempt to answer questions such as "How are the vampires similar to other vampire stories?" and "What is the message Holly Black trying to give the reader?" among others. After our conclusions Joe...

Alex and Joe discuss Alex's first book pick, Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. We talk about our general feelings of the book and the different characters and try to answer questions such as "Who is Anansi?" and "How is Anansi Boys connected to American Gods?" among others.   The next book that we will be reading is Joe's pick, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black.    We hope that you enjoy the s...

Hello,   This is our introduction to a new podcast. Here we describe what we are doing and why. We also announce the first book we are going to discuss.    The 1st book that we will be discussing next month is Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. We hope you join us next month.   If you'd like to email us we can be reached at kendallbookworms@gmail.com